A Month Back in Bangkok

A Month Back in Bangkok, and What I learnt from the Past Lessons: Part III
Written by Charin Polpanumas

Back in Tokyo were fresh air, consumable tap water, clean streets, and state-of-the-art train system. Pick the most crowded (aka ‘polluted’) street in Tokyo, walk it and you would feel as if you were strolling down the park in Bangkok. Japanese corporations, public and private alike, whether accidentally or otherwise, have flexed their muscles in the way that benefits the environment. Here in Kunitachi, a supermarket retailer, SEIYU, offers a 2-yen discount to each customer with his or her own shopping bags. Even Japan’s world-renowned automobile industry is producing its new lines of hybrid cars. I tried to rationalize this development with Japan’s advanced economy, but I realize it runs way deeper than that. Especially from working with Ecotwaza, I have not seen big corporations but rather very small ones, even family businesses, who hold pride in making their products eco-friendly and socially responsible. Corporate social responsibility—despite how saintly they might appear—could not function as a marketing strategy unless the people embrace it. Whether because of their experience with environmental pollution during the 1960s or the cultural background, it has made the people think more than twice before littering, and when they do, they meticulously separate among PET bottles, cans, combustible and incombustible garbage. It could be said that Japanese have a very conscious mindset when it comes to dealing with the environmental issues.